Bittersweet

As our time in Germany is coming to an end I have found myself with extremely mixed emotions. When I tell people back home we are moving back to the states I usually hear something along the lines of "I bet you are so glad to be getting back home.". The quick answer is yes, but Germany has also become our home, so I am sad to leave it for many reasons. Of course, I am ready to be closer to family and have the conveniences that the US offers, but I am sad to leave my "family" over here.
Germany has had its fair share of ups and downs, but I know this is where the Lord wanted Davis and me during this season of our lives. We have been surrounded with incredibly Godly men and women that have blessed us in more ways than we can count. They have taken part in our lives, been there for the birth of our first child, and we have watched their families and children grow over the past two years. They prayed for me and encouraged me through Davis' deployment and rejoiced with me at his homecoming. God has blessed us with wonderful friends and "family" during this time away from our friends and family in the states and it will be hard to say goodbye.
It is bittersweet leaving this house too. I will definitely not miss the mold in the basement and the tiny kitchen sink and oven, or lack of disposal or counter space, or the fact that there is not one single closet in this whole house (seriously, not even for clothes...it is a German thing) but this is the house where we brought our first child home. This is the house Davis came home to after deployment and where we have made 2 years worth of family memories.  We have made this house our home. 
We have been able to travel and see places I never dreamed I would be able to see in my lifetime. We have experienced culture and new traditions and I have grown as a person because of it. I am so thankful for the opportunities we have had over here.
To be really honest, living over here is like living in a little bubble. We can't read the newspapers or watch the news so I tend to have what Davis calls a "false" sense of security. But I really do feel safer over here and also do not tend to struggle with materialism as much. Living in my bubble here is easy because it isn't about what clothes I wear or any of the material things I covet in the states.  I know without a doubt in my mind that the Lord placed us here in Germany and we have been where he wanted us for the past two years.  That type of peace is hard to leave, but I also know the Lord is calling us to step out in faith again as we did when we moved to Germany. 
So tomorrow is our last full day in Germany and it will be really sad to say goodbye to our friends here and the "simple" life we have lead here, but we are trusting in the Lords plans and looking forward to the next adventure he sends up on. A married life of not being a military wife and a life of being a students wife. Business school here we come!

Just to remember

There are so many things Grey does at this age that make me and Davis laugh and wanted to make sure I never forget these precious moments of Grey's life and growth.  So here goes:

-Grey waves to the post guard EVERY time we go on post with so much enthusiasm and says "bye" for about 5 minutes after we have already pulled away.

-He loves to snuggle while watching TV and just sit in your lap.

-Obsessed with blowing his nose and blowing on his food when it is hot.

-He will hold up his pointer finger and act like he is counting to 3 (he can't really count yet) and then attack or tickle you.

-Loves any kind of dip, especially ranch veggie dip and carrots.

-Kisses and hugs my belly when I ask him where baby brother is and then waves to my tummy.

-Grey has learned the art of stalling when going to bed by asking for milk or to go tee tee.  He knows I will usually oblige those 2 things.

-He likes to try to stand/walk on his tip toes.

-One of my favorite words he says is "ower" for flower.

-He loves to smell things when I tell him they smell good.

-He loves to stand on a stool and "help" me cook.  It slows me down so much and makes such a bigger mess, but he loves to stir things so he gets his own bowl of water and a spoon and is happy!

-He loves any and every kind of animal and loves to feed ducks.  He usually will squat down and call whatever animal is close by to come to him. 

 

-He just is so happy and makes us smile all the time! 

Paris

The weekend after Valentine's Day Davis and I headed to Paris for our last big trip during our time in Europe.  Paris was one of the last big places we both wanted to go (even though we have both been in the past) before heading back.  Don't get me wrong, there are about a million other places we wanted to visit while over here, but there is only so much you can see in 2 years.
We got in the car after Davis got off work on Thurs. and ended up driving through an awful snow storm that slowed us down a lot.  We eventually got into Paris at about midnight and checked in and passed out from our long drive.
Friday we woke up ready to go. We had not made any real plans so we just hopped on the subway and headed to the Eifel Tower. It was kind of overcast this morning, but after lunch the clouds cleared and the rest of the weekend we had sun. It was still freezing though.

Grey was not too into the Eifel Tower

 

Grey perked up for the bike tour we took

The military school



The church where Napoleon is buried

I don't think they have too many bike trailers in Paris because everyone seemed to stop and stare at Davis and Grey...Could just be cause they are cute though :)

Note to self:  white puffy jacket + 30 weeks pregnant = not the best look

So excited to run around a bit

Feeding the ducks after eating lunch and falling in a mud puddle

The Louvre

Bike tour at 30 weeks was a good idea for the first hour or 2, but by hour 3 I was ready for it to be over.  My equilibrium was a little off....it was a fun way to see the city though!

It totally wore Grey out :)  I think he looks like a homeless man in this picture.  He was soooo dirty from falling in the mud puddle.

Bottom of the pyramid at the Louvre

Grey had been in his stroller a lot this day so we found a park semi-gated grassy area for him to run around in so he could get some energy out and hopefully sleep that night.

Day 2: Notre Dame

sweet boy

Grey could not get enough of the pigeons so we saved bread from lunch to feed them.

Sometimes he got confused and ate the bread himself :)

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We eventually ran out of bread and he started throwing rocks....that was the end of the birds hanging around

This face cracks me up....I think he had just seen a horse and carriage or something

We chased Grey around a LOT

Watching big boys play soccer

Grey got to ride his first merry go round

He wasn't too sure of it at first and didn't like that it passed us by, but quickly learned it was fun to just wave and see us the next time he came around.

We got to this neat park right as everything was closing so all we really got to see was the backside of the ponies leaving, but Grey was still amazed

I somehow managed to get no pictures from Versailles from the last day.  We took a train there and spent basically the whole day there.  Grey was not in a good mood and strollers were not allowed in the palace so it made for an interesting day.  I ended up having to wear him in a backpack on the front on top of my large pregnant belly and he didn't like it any more than I did.  After the tour of the palace we did end up having a nice walk around the gardens and a little lunch by a pond with more ducks so we ended on a good note. 
All in all our trip to Paris was a success.  There was lots of walking and lugging the stroller up and down subway steps, which made for one sore pregnant momma.  It was totally worth it though and I am so glad we finally checked Paris off our list. 
Now it is back to reality and starting to pack our house because we move back to the states in about a month.

Sledding

It snowed a lot on Sun. night and Davis had Monday off so we decided to take advantage of the snow and go sledding.  We have talked about going a few times, but don't have sleds.  We borrowed one from my friend Aimee and took her little boy Owen along and headed to one of their favorite sledding hills.  Davis, Owen, and I had a blast.  The jury is still out on whether Grey liked it or not.

He is not so big on walking in all his snow gear that is all hand me downs that are at least 1 size too big.  He also is not a huge fan of the snow in general.  We just continue to take him out in it hoping he will loosen up :) 

Davis and Owen tried out the hill before Davis took Grey down. 

 

As you can tell Grey was not really sure what was about to happen...

 

 

 

The hike back up was not so fun....

....unless you are Grey and get to ride back up!

 

Of course big ole preggo couldn't let the boys have all the fun.  It was quite the adrenaline rush and I didn't feel like going into labor yet, so I only went once. 

We had a blast even though we only went down a few times due to the intense walk back up.  So glad we finally went sledding though.